That effect disappeared during production. Her unease, however, didn't, especially after the movie shattered all records when it opened in 1977.

Those first takes — part of her audition for the role that would make her famous — lives on to this day on YouTube.

Fisher — best remembered as the tough and feisty Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars," died Tuesday at age 60. Fisher had suffered a heart attack last Friday on a flight from London to Los Angeles and had been hospitalized in Los Angeles.

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Remembering the life and career of Carrie Fisher

The actress was also briefly married to singer Paul Simon in the mid-1980s. The song "Hearts and Bones" was written about their relationship. The Simon song "Graceland" is also thought to be about seeking solace from the end of their relationship.

While Fisher appeared in dozens of other movies — she will forever be remembered as the iconic "Star Wars" character.

"I can't do anything else," Fisher told the Daily News in 2015. "No she's me and I'm her, a Moebius striptease. I was cast for a reason and look, but then I wasn't cast a lot as anything else. I'm really associated as this character.

"So when people think of me they think of me as me and her together," she added.

Fisher would later lament that she wished Leia was more like the female heroes of the current era — the one with her own lightsaber like Daisy Ridley's Rey in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," instead of the one stuffed into a gold bikini for male fans to ogle.

I'm deeply saddened at the news of Carrie's passing. She was a dear friend, whom I greatly respected and admired. The force is dark today!

Maybe it was the pressures of superstardom thrust on her petite shoulders. Or maybe it was just the ready availability of cocaine in Hollywood in the era — but she later admitted during the sequel, "The Empire Strikes Back," she snorted enough coke to fill the snowy planet of Hoth.

For a long time that drug use threatened to eclipse her body of work — all the way through a 2005 night of debauchery ending with Republican lobbyist R. Gregory Stevens dying of an overdose in her home.

Over time, she became comfortable speaking publicly about her mental state, an inspiration to many, less famous people struggling with the same condition, even if the medication sometimes made her slur her words a bit. In recent years, her therapy dog, Gary, a ubiquitous presence wherever she went, became a star in his own right.

But there was much more going on between those two iconic hair-buns: Fisher emerged from the fog of her worst drug addled days to become an accomplished writer. Her 1987 novel, "Postcards From the Edge," loosely inspired by her own relationship with her showbiz mother, won critical acclaim and inspired a film starring Meryl Streep three years later.

She played supporting roles in a number of memorable movies at the end of that decade — including "When Harry Met Sally" (1989), "The 'Burbs" (1989) and "Soapdish" (1991) — but she really shined off screen.

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Fisher found a second career as far away from the marquee as possible, as a highly in demand script doctor whose acerbic wit helped add needed zing to movies like "Hook" (1991), "Sister Act" (1992) and "The Wedding Singer" (1998).